The newly published Fall 2023 issue of the quarterly journal Leader to Leader, where I am Managing Editor, commemorates the life and leadership of our founder and longtime Editor-in-Chief, Frances Hesselbein, who passed away last December at the age of 107.
The articles reflect Frances’ remarkable leadership experience: being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 (the nation’s highest civilian honor), CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA from 1976-1990; founding of what is now the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum, and her extensive work with our country’s military, including being appointed to the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, which she held from 2009-2011.
Frances’ experience of working closely with the United States Army is detailed by a number of the authors in the issue, especially by Lloyd J. Austin III, the Secretary of Defense.
Frances maintained ties with Girl Scouts of the USA long after she retired, as seen in the article by Noorain Khan, 27th National Board President, who is also currently Director of the Office of the President at the Ford Foundation.
Rather than our usual 9-12 longer main articles, this issue includes more than 30 shorter articles by a wide variety of authors with personal/professional ties to Frances. As you will see from the excerpts below, she had a powerful effect on everyone she met; a perfect example of leadership soft power, drawing on her personal qualities and character. In this post, I’ve attempted to help define what aspects comprised that soft power, and have grouped the excerpts by these categories.
The 7 aspects are:
Service, alliances, and reciprocity
Positive presence and grace
Maintaining intergenerational ties
Friendship, mentorship, and generosity
Lifelong contributions and self-development
Honoring roots and heritage
Maintaining past organizational ties
The following brief excerpts, from people who knew Frances well, and cared about her deeply, help define leadership qualities she embodied, and what we can learn from and apply in our own lives and work. I hope you will seek out all of the articles in this issue (this is just a sampling) and will continue to learn from Frances’ powerful example.
Service, alliances, and reciprocity
Lloyd J. Austin III
Frances Hesselbein: A Deep Source of Wisdom, Inspiration, and Encouragement
Excerpt: “In 2009, I was in Baghdad commanding the U.S. Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps. My troops and I were several months into our deployment, and I asked my trusted mentor Frances Hesselbein to speak to my team by video teleconference. I was hoping she would share some of her wisdom on leadership and inspire us with her love of country.
So I left a message with Frances’s staff. I learned later that when her team told her that I’d reached out in need of a favor, Frances had replied: “The answer is yes. What is his question?”
That was Frances. When it came to giving her time, sharing her wisdom, and serving others, her answer was always yes.”
Robert Ivany
Frances Hesselbein and the Power of Empathy
Excerpt: “She always amazed me! It was not her impressive and numerous awards that distinguished Frances. Rather, it was her remarkable ability to empathize. I watched her relate to and inspire young students from inner city New York, college students from China and Africa, combat veterans, CEOs of our largest corporations, and executives of philanthropic organizations. She touched all of us because we felt her commitment to helping us regardless of our background, social standing, or financial status. Frances appreciated and assisted everyone she met, and she met a lot of us. One of her favorite phrases was: “the answer is yes!”. When I was about to ask her for a favor, she would interrupt me with her famous phrase even before she knew the nature of my request. She trusted me and appreciated that I would not ask for an inappropriate commitment. I immediately felt that she understood my unique challenges and aspirations. Always with a smile and perhaps a gentle nudge, she would inspire me to think clearly and have courage to face the inevitable challenge.”
Rebecca Shambaugh
The Lessons and Legacy of Frances Hesselbein—My Personal Reflections on a Beloved Mentor and Friend
Excerpt: “Anyone who has ever met Frances can verify what I experienced in that initial encounter, and the many times we met over the years that followed: her presence shined through as authentic to the core. She was an intentional and curious listener, kind-hearted, and a woman who was clearly on a mission. Frances’s guiding motto was “to serve is to live.” What’s more, throughout her entire life, Frances used her strengths generously and selflessly in the service of others, and in doing so, became a driving force shaping timeless leadership principles and management philosophy.”
Positive presence and grace
Marshall Goldsmith
My Last Visit with Frances Hesselbein
Excerpt: “During all the time I knew Frances, I never observed her being negative. She was always positive. She even had a funny little joke she liked to tell. “Ask me my blood type,” she’d say. I’d ask, and she’d say, “It is B Positive!” And, no matter what was going on, it was never about her. It was always about others. She was always in a mode of service. She lived the motto: “To Serve Is to Live.””
Tom Kolditz
Grace in Character, Frances Hesselbein’s Way
Excerpt: “Even when confronted with rudeness or disrespect, Frances was above it all, maintaining her dignity and keeping all negativity in private and in check. Grace appears passive, but it manifests real power. Until I knew Frances, I never realized how powerfully important graciousness can be. Leaders who fail to demonstrate grace appear to emotionally flail. They come across as cheap and weak, angry, even fearful. I came to appreciate it in the military leaders that garnered true respect. I had known General Eric Shinseki for years prior and had tried to emulate his quietly respectful demeanor, but it was Frances who made me realize that the characteristic I was seeing was grace.”
Annie McKee
Frances Hesselbein: A Study in Courage and Grace
Excerpt: “Frances stood up for honor, for responsibility, and for choosing the right path. More, Frances called on us to see the truth, maybe especially when it hurt, and to optimistically choose that right path even when the forces that be were insidiously pushing us to choose the easier, quieter, and yes, the cowardly path.” Along with courage, “I believe that what enabled Frances to overcome people’s natural resistance was grace. What is grace? Grace is compassion and dignity and eloquence and serenity in the face of opposition. Grace is optimism even when things look bleak. Grace is good humor and playfulness. Grace is joy.”
Alan Mulally
How To Be and Do to Create Value for All the Stakeholders and the Greater Good
Excerpt: “As Frances explained in her book Hesselbein on Leadership, ‘All the How to’s in the world won’t work until the ‘how to be’s are defined, embraced by the leaders, and embodied and demonstrated in every action, every communication, every leadership moment.’”
Maintaining intergenerational ties
Joan Kuhl
Leadership Adventures with Frances Hesselbein
Excerpt: “I’ll never forget the powerful impact of receiving my first leadership book featuring a woman’s face on the cover … Frances. Her leadership philosophy reinforced my experiences as Student Government President at our shared alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). Frances’s story had been featured across campus as Pitt embarked on a two-million-dollar capital campaign led by another remarkable mentor, Eva Tansky Blum. As SGB President, I was immersed amongst the incredible alumni who attended global events sharing stories, and one of those legacy storytellers was Frances.”
Julia M. Santucci
Bright Future: Embracing Frances Hesselbein’s Embrace of Younger Generations
Excerpt: “After leaving as CEO the Girl Scouts in 1990 and co-founding the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, the focus of Frances’s work seemed to shift away from children toward nonprofit executives. And yet she never stopped looking for ways to engage and empower America’s youth. She advised Army Generals but relished her time teaching cadets at West Point and working with the children of military families through the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), where a leadership program still bears her name. In 2009, she partnered with the University of Pittsburgh to create the Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, a program that convenes student leaders from around the world annually in Pittsburgh to learn from each other and some of the world’s greatest leaders. Alumni of the program cite it as one of the most inspirational and impactful experiences of their careers, particularly those who were able to learn from Frances personally when she traveled to Pittsburgh each year to participate.”
Guy St. Clair
Defining Leadership: Frances Hesselbein’s Gift to Us
Excerpt: “And importantly, Frances had strong expectations about how young people move into their roles as our future leaders. As a result, she had a passionate interest in working with young people simply because it was how she thought. She was—as I early realized—the very embodiment of the 19th century philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s admonition to be an “opener of doors.”
When I was teaching, Frances took great delight when I told her about my students’ discussions of her work and her writings, and about how they were used in our seminars. Then, one day, in the autumn of 2016, she simply said to me, “Let’s do a conference for your students, all about leadership and knowledge services.””
Friendship, mentorship, and generosity
Louis Carter
Frances Hesselbein: A Role Model for Leadership and Mentorship
Excerpt: “Life brings many blessings.
The blessings of a great mentor and leader endure throughout this life and beyond.
Few mentors and leaders give of themselves because they have taken a personal oath of a higher calling.
Frances Hesselbein was one of them for me.”
Tom Deierlein
Frances Hesselbein and the Importance of Living Your Core Values
Excerpt: “Here is the kicker. I am NOT special. I KNOW I am not special. But in her eyes, I was. I often joke as one of nine children that even my own mother says she has eight others just like me. Frances was special and she treated everyone as someone worth knowing, listening to, and worth admiring. Part of her gift was to help thousands see what their true potential could be. In subtle and small gestures and words, she helped others to feel confident and special.”
Hortense le Gentil
Opening the Door to New Levels of Leadership
Excerpt: “In my native France, the idea of serving others is often associated with subservience and doesn’t fit the traditional view of the all-knowing, powerful leader. Even though I’d been advocating for a more empathetic approach when coaching executives, it was as if Frances brought into sharp focus something that had until then remained fuzzy; broadening and elevating my understanding of leadership to a spiritual level. With a few words, she had just unlocked a door in my mind.”
Torin Perez
How a Great Mentor & a Great Mission Can Change Your Life AND the World
Excerpt: “Over the years, our conversations at her office in New York, in Easton, and over dinners inspired me to believe even more in what I could offer the world as a leader. When I mentioned that I wanted to write a book, she could sense my doubt as I asked, “What does it take to write great work?” She paused for a moment before she reached for the paper I was scribbling notes on, pulled out her signature blue marker, and wrote the words that would help me overcome any doubt— “Communication is not saying something; communication is being heard.” Frances is the reason why I am an author today, and I proudly chose to feature her review as the sole Editorial Review on the cover of Who Am I to Lead? The World is Waiting for You.”
Lifelong contributions and self-development
Kathy Caprino
A Key Lesson From Frances Hesselbein That Transformed My Approach to Life and Leadership
Excerpt: “In the past 13 years of interviewing hundreds of top leadership and business experts, entrepreneurial gurus, writers, artists, and others who are leading in the entertainment and creative fields, I’ve recognized that those individuals who are making the most lasting positive impact didn’t have to read 100 leadership books or take 20 leadership courses to understand to how to lead powerfully and productively. They had to do something much harder: They chose to embark on identifying what they value most as a human being—and who they wanted to be in the world—and became the living embodiment of that, for the betterment of themselves and others.”
Sally Helgesen
Frances Hesselbein: Meticulous Preparation For a Public Role
Excerpt: “Frances also taught that a leader’s words are highly instructive. She made this point nearly 30 years after our first encounter, when I interviewed her for a profile in Strategy + Business magazine at her office in Mutual of America’s Park Avenue headquarters. Over lunch in the employee cafeteria, she noted that those who hold positional power must always recognize that a careless or off-hand observation can devastate an employee, or send an unintended message. “When you’re a leader, people watch your every move and listen to every word you say. They can over-interpret because they feel dependent upon your opinion. So you need to honor that, and weigh your words.””
Sarah McArthur
A Mighty One: The Leadership, Service, and Legacy of Frances Hesselbein
Excerpt: “In this one issue in which we commemorate Frances, who she was and how she led and the impact that she had on all of us who had the honor to know her, we see such an array of leaders in all areas who looked to her for guidance, friendship, and support. And do you know why? It is because when we look at Frances, we can see ourselves as she saw us. In other words, lovingly better. And we aspire to that, to be the better version of ourselves that we saw in Frances’s eyes.”
William E. (Kip) Ward
Frances Hesselbein -Uncommon Leader -Uncommon Leadership
Excerpt: “Throughout the 20 years that I was honored to know Frances, each occasion was a class in leadership and what it means to be an effective leader. And because of the personal nature of the relationship we had with Frances, observing her in all settings was always a reinforcement of her lessons given by personal example. To be with Frances was to be with a kind, compassionate, understanding, listening, giving, and focused professional. Frances had a way of understanding what was important and then determining how she could work with others in achieving the important goals in life. And that prescription was effective and worked in all types of organizations.”
Honoring roots and heritage
James K. Dittmar
The Importance of Legacy in the Life and Work of Frances Hesselbein
Excerpt: “Frances treasured her life in Johnstown. “As I look back, everything I learned in Johnstown prepared me for my life in leadership,” she once told me. She learned about inclusion and diversity from growing up and going to school with children whose fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers had come to Johnstown, from all over the world, to work in the area’s mines and mills.”
Elizabeth Haas
Opening Doors: Frances Hesselbein’s Leadership, Courage, Imagination and Vision
Excerpt: “When asked who she was, Frances would always begin by explaining that she came from: “a big steel, big coal, big hearts town in the mountains of western Pennsylvania,” and a family committed to service. She would continue with what people did for her and what that enabled her to do for others: “Who am I that people open doors for me? How have I been able to open doors for others?” As she would describe her qualities, whoever was with her could remember a story of how Frances lived that quality.”
Maintaining past organizational ties
Noorain Khan
Frances Hesselbein: A Transformative Icon of Our Girl Scout Movement
Excerpt: “As I progressed to becoming an adult volunteer and eventually a National Board member, I leaned more formally on the lessons that Frances imparted to us all through her thought leadership. While she drew on Girl Scout experiences to teach leadership lessons to leaders of all backgrounds and sectors in this country, I felt so lucky that they had specifically to do with the context in which I was operating. I benefitted immensely from her public writing and reflections.”
Diane M. Ryan
Selfless Service and the Choice of Inclusion
Excerpt: “Frances arrived at West Point on a bright autumn day to speak with cadets and local Girl Scout troops on the meaning of service and I was the lucky one assigned to be her personal escort. I remember feeling both excited and apprehensive. If what I read in those letters was even partially true, I knew I was about to encounter greatness.”
For more on Frances Hesselbein’s amazing life and work, see my March 8, 2023 post 37 Curated Resources on the Remarkable Life of Frances Hesselbein and the Leader to Leader special online issue, To Serve Is to Live: Celebrating the Life and Leadership of Frances Hesselbein, 1915-2022.